by Harivallabhi Ganapathy ('24)
When many people think of extracurriculars that are good for colleges, many people think of sports and community service. Both look great on applications individually, but what if they were combined?
Sports Trinity, a 501c3 non-profit organization, was started and founded by senior Rohan Rao. He began this organization this summer, using all three months to spread awareness and fundraise for his organization. The other three founding members, all of whom describe themselves as very close friends are: Shreya Nanda, a senior at JP Stevens, SBHS senior Alwaz Saeed, and Bryan Yan, a senior at UPenn. They planned all of it out and decided on their mission,“ to bridge the economic disparity within sports by allocating sports equipment to under-resourced communities.”
Rao was inspired by news articles about the lack of sports equipment in communities he read about, especially for young athletes who don’t perform well due to the lack of access to proper equipment. So, they collect equipment that is in working condition from the community and local school districts who are interested in contributing.
“I'm motivated to bring these opportunities to kids and teenagers with these constraints and help them to pursue a sport of their interest,” said Rao.
Their first equipment drive was held right here at SBHS on August 25 during the home football game versus Hillsborough. The crowd was full and many knew about this event so a lot of people were prepared with donations in hand.
“When Rohan approached me about putting something like this together, I thought it was such a great opportunity to continue the acts of service that many of our students at SBHS do in a variety of ways,” said athletics director, Mr. CJ Hendricks.
To spread the word, Mr. Hendricks and Superintendent Mr. Scott Feder spread the word by sending flyers to the district and posting them on all of SB Athletics' social media pages. Mr. Hendricks suggested that they should have free entry for anyone who donated to the organization since it was a great way for people to come to the school football games while doing a good deed on the side. In return, they received 30 donations of various pieces of sports equipment.
The donations will not only go to youth programs in under-resourced schools and communities but also to clubs and programs that have recently been established in other schools. They have done other fundraising events that have resulted in receiving cricket equipment from an Edison cricket ground and collecting equipment from the South Amboy school district, where they received a similar amount of donations. If they can get more people to support them, they would love to expand to other communities outside of New Jersey.
Rao added, “We believe that every kid, regardless of their background, should be given an equal opportunity to play a sport,” and that “it isn't just about spreading awareness, but incentivizing younger generations to chase their ambitions of being an athlete.”